The Six Wives of Henry VIII

I love English history, especially the period from King Edward IV's reign through the Tudor's. Henry VIII was one of the most powerful monarchs in British history, who ruled England in unprecedented splendor. He has long been one of my favorite historical characters, as have three of his six wives, Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Katherine Parr. For better and for worse, he was certainly a larger than life figure. (quite literally so - at his death, he was obese). I know of very few fictional personages who are as complex and fascinating as this man, (and the women who attracted him). Born to Elizabeth of York and King Henry VII on June 28, 1491 in Greenwich Palace. Henry was a second son and not expected to rule. But rule he did. He became heir to the throne on the death of his elder brother, Prince Arthur, in 1502, and succeeded in 1509. Sir Thomas More once said of him, "If a lion knew his strength, it were hard for any man to hold him." Henry was highly intelligent, and, as a youth, quite athletic. Described by a contemporary: "He speaks good French, Latin and Spanish; is very religious; heard three masses daily when he hunted ... He is extremely fond of hunting, and never takes that diversion without tiring eight or ten horses ... He is also fond of tennis." He wrote books and composed music, and was a lavish patron of the arts. As the author of a best-selling book, which went through 20 editions in England and Europe, attacking Martin Luther and supporting the Roman Catholic Church, Henry was given the title "Defender of the Faith" in 1521 by the Pope. "The second half of Henry's reign was dominated by two major issues, very important for the future of England and the monarchy: the succession and the Protestant Reformation, which led to the formation of the Church of England." Women and the role they played in the King's life, impacted many of his policies and actions - but the Protestant Reformation and the succession, in particular, had their roots in Henry's relationships with women. He was perhaps England's most infamous monarch, especially when it came to matters of lust, love, marriage, and the unusually cruel and ruthless ways he invented to terminate soured relationships. He was married to six distinctly different women. Author Alison Weir chronicles Henry VIII's metamorphosis from vibrant young prince to despotic, paranoid old king through his marital history, in this richly detailed and meticulously researched composite biography. She has used many public records, diaries, diplomatic sources, and personal letters of the early 1500's to offer a comprehensive, factual version of the private and public lives of Henry VIII and his wives. Ms. Weir writes, with great elegance, wit and insight, about each of the women, and how their lives impacted their times and history. She also describes each of these complex women, their unique characters as individuals, (not just as consorts to a king), their motivations and ambitions. S

I have always had a soft spot for King Henry VIII's wives and enjoyed reading about them, but never have I come across such a detailed, colorful, and engaging biography of them as this. Alison Weir has done a phenomenal amount of research in compiling this book. She provides us with countless details of the lives of these women, including excerpts from letters written by, addressed to, or about them. She also dispells many of the myths that have grown up around the six Queens. For instance, Anne Boleyn was not the promiscuous wanton she has often been described as, and Jane Seymour may not have been quite as sweet and innocent in nature as most people believed her to be. Coupled with her easy, fluid writing style, this factual detail brings each of the women to life. We get to know them intimately as Weir unlocks their widely varied personalities.Katherine of Aragon (mother of Queen 'Bloody' Mary) was a loving and devoted wife to Henry for 24 years. When he ultimately cast her aside in hopes of finding a more fruitful wife (one who would provide him with a male heir, which Katherine had failed to do), she firmly maintained that she was the King's true wife, the Queen, and always would be. For the rest of her life, she never permitted anyone to call her anything but 'Queen', even though she lived out her last miserable years in a dank, unhealthy estate, with insufficient resources.Anne Boleyn (mother of Queen Elizabeth I) was an outspoken and ambitious young woman, originally one of Katherine's waiting women. She caught the King's attention and Henry developed an overwhelming passion for her. His desire to rid himself of Katherine and marry Anne ultimately led the King to break with the Roman Catholic Church, something scandalous and unthinkable to most of his contemporaries. Unfortunately for her, Anne lacked sufficient discretion, and her political oponents found it all too easy to lay upon her false accusations that would result in her execution.Henry once said that he loved Jane Seymour best of all his wives, perhaps because she succeeded where his other wives had failed - she gave Henry his heir, Edward VI. But Jane, much loved by many Englanders, did not occupy the position of Queen for long. Shortly after the birth of her son, she succumbed to infection and died. Henry remembered her as his favorite for the rest of his life, and ordered that he be buried at her side when he died.Anne of Cleves, the shortest-lasting of Henry's Queens, was ultimately the most successful of the six women. Henry arranged to marry the German princess based solely on seeing one portrait of her. This portrait, however, had exaggerated her appearance, and when the King saw his new wife he was repulsed. He immediately sought a way out of the marriage. Anne could have faced a grimmer fate, except that she was cheerfully compliant where Katherine had been stubborn. The marriage was annulled with ease and the King, grateful for her cooperation, provided Anne with prope

This is perhaps one of the finest biographies of the women who shared their lives with one of the most powerful and fascinating monarchs to have ruled England. Weir devotes the utmost care to each of the six wives of Henry VIII, telling their stories with compassion and giving each an individual voice. Most of the energy of this book is clearly directed on Henry's first two marriages, first to Katherine of Aragon and the divorce that helped to create the Church of England, and his stormy second union with Anne Boleyn, mother of the Great Elizabeth, chronicling her astronomical rise in power and her spectacular fall from grace. Powerful and masterfully written, Weir recreates the fantastical Tudor court and sweeps the reader into this realm effortlessly. Immensely readable and absorbing, this is Alison Weir at her very best. Extremely well researched, I would recommend this book to anyone who is the least bit curious about 16th century society as viewed through the eyes of 6 of the most important women of their time.

The story of Henry VIII's rule can only truly be told once a reader understands the vital importance attached to begetting an heir to the kingdom. Alison Weir, as usual, offers this thoroughly-detailed, sometimes amusing, sometimes heartbreaking portrait of a man who, thwarted at nearly every turn from getting a queen who could produce strapping male heirs to the Throne of England, descended from a jolly, back-slapping prince to a fat, cruel and nearly despotic king, whose final wish to be buried alongside Jane Seymour must have cut his final surviving wife, Katherine Parr, to the quick.But, as the title suggests, the primary thrust of this book is not so much Henry VIII as each of his unfortunate wives. One learns a great deal more about them than the usual lines given by armchair historians. For example, "saintly" Jane Seymour, usually depicted as a meek and mild young thing, was just as much a deliberate factor in the downfall of Anne Boleyn as her royal husband-to-be. And as one reads about Anne Boleyn's temper, one teeters between sympathy for her and ... a vague feeling that perhaps Henry beheaded her not so much for failing to produce an heir as to get her to shut up and cease her constant nagging and ill-tempered outbursts. (Of course, then you swing back into Anne's camp, figuring anyone living with someone like Henry would be ill-tempered ... or perhaps worse!)And so it goes ...Fascinating, chock full of details of court life and rife with facts from many primary sources, Alison Weir's account of Henry VIII and his wives remains a standard of its genre.

I have one word to say-WOW! I am thirteen years old and last November my family took a trip to London over Thanksgiving break. While in Westminster Abbey's gift shop, I noticed this book about Henry's the Eighth's wives. The book looked HUGE and I jokingly told my brother I was going to read it. I started looking at it and it looked so interesting I really did end up buying it. Once I got started reading it, I couldn't put it down. I had heard about a King named Henry with six wives before, but this book completely changed my view of him AND his wives. Weir shows us their thoughts and feelings and brings every character to life. After reading the book, I reccomended it to my best friend's mother, who read it and loved it also. After reading it, I began to look for more books on the Tudor period in Great Britain and have become an absolute fanatic on the subject. I learned more from this one book than from all my other history classes combined!